PENGUINS
PENGUINS
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There are eighteen to twenty-one different species of these lovable flightless marine birds. One may not realize this, however, most of the species do not actually reside in Antarctica, but rather specifically on islands where they can breed, and between the latitudes of forty-five degrees and sixty degrees. Surprisingly, a few penguins actually live in more milder climate regions, and the Galapagos penguin can be found at the Equator.
The penguin is known for its short legs, which has won them over with humans, globally. Their height is in the range of about fourteen inches and their weight is approximately two pounds, for the fairy, or blue penguin and about forty-five inches and ninety pounds for the emperor penguin. Their coat coloring tends to be black on their back, and white below. Oftentimes, there are lines of black that run across the upper chest area. Their head will typically have spots of white. Coloring outside of these ranges is rare with red beaks or even, feet, in a few penguins and yellowish brown tufts founds in Eudyptes three species and the emperor, or king penguins, with yellow or orange found on the neck, head or chest.
The emperor penguin has a total population of some species residing in the hundreds of thousands, however a majority of the smaller penguin population could certainly be into the millions. There was a time during the nineteenth century where these birds were preyed upon for their meat and eggs, but by the twentieth century, this type of profiteering of the penguins was no longer lucrative. Today, some species are rising in their numbers as the Antarctic whales have been eradicated. That is important to the penguin population as the two would actively compete for the krill which fed both of them. Unfortunately, penguins are quite susceptible to the climate changes as well as the temperature of the ocean, which includes the recent surge of global warming. In addition, penguins are also vulnerable to the reduction of their supply of local fish by humans.
The life cycle of the penguin can vary depending on the geographic location and body size. Within the species, in relation to their latitude, the timetable can also vary. Typically, most species reproduce only once per year. The king penguin, however, will often breed two times in a three year period. Only one egg is laid by the king or emperor penguins, whereas two or three eggs are laid by the others. The breeding period for the majority of penguins is in spring or summer. The emperor penguins begins breeding during the fall, which is purposely timed this way so the extended developmental period will produce their young penguins during the middle of the summer, thus increasing their chances of survival.
The penguins have some distinct vocal and visual displays
which can be heard and seen, respectively, during their arrival and their
departure. During the penguins pairing,
courtship calls are utilized. There are
vocal differences which can be detected between the sexes in the emperor
penguin as well as the king penguin, and less noticeable appearance differences
in some other species. When the penguins
arrive at the colony, each one will return to the nest it vacated the prior
year and will typically rejoin the mate of the prior year, unless the mate's
death forces it to make another partner choice.
Even the emperor penguin is under this rule, and these penguins are
quite capable of partnering with a mate regardless of the absence of a nest and
the monumental size of the colony.
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